Sunday, January 27, 2008

Suisha House: a Japanese Bistro

Friday night, our power went out, caused by the never ending rain we are having. So, we decided to go out! We went to see the movie Juno, hilariously funny (not redundantly repetitive). After the movie we ate at some random Japanese restaurant we saw. It was called Suisha House The ambiance was pleasant. My brother ordered unagi donburi (grilled eel over a bowl of rice), my dad ordered a three peice combo with tempura, mackerel, and nigiri sushi, my mother asked for teriyaki beef, and I decided to try the chicken udon (chicken soup in western terms).When my udon arrived, I could feel the heat radiating from it. The steam was intense and I believe the temperature was just under a boil. Once the soup cooled down I was able to taste it. Oishii! that means delicious in Japanese! The broth was flavorful and warmed my tummy after the "journey" under the rain :) After drinking some of the broth, I tried to drag some flat rice noodles up using my chopsticks. This proved to be easier said than done. The noodles kept sliding back into the bowl! I ended up using my spoon and chopsticks together Italian-style to keep the noodles out long enough to cool them and eat them.In my udon I also some pieces of chicken, but they must have given all their flavor to the broth because they were quite tasteless. With the udon came three pieces of crisp delightful gyoza (fried pork dumplings). Gyoza are usually good and these were no exception. Nothing better than well made comfort food!I also had the salmon nigiri sushi from my dad's combo plate. The raw fish was soft and nutty with the slightly sweet and vinegary rice underneath. A delight! Everyone liked their food, except that my mother stated that the teriyaki was too sweet. (it always seems to be). When I didn't finish my udon (big bowl, remember) we passed it around the table because my entire family wanted some. My dad wanted to finish it, but my brother, my mother, and I kept asking for another spoonful. Funtastic!